Oscar Rayo

Renata Soto: "Our nation cannot afford to waste Oscar’s potential"

Overton High School senior Oscar Rayo won the My Latino Roots, My American Dream contest sponsored by Conexion Americas last fall. In his essay, he describes his journey to the U.S., the challenges he faces here, and his dream of a voice for unvisaed immigrants.

The essay is reproduced below, in full, inside Renata Soto's speech about MLK and Latinos in America, which she delivered January 14 at Maryville College.

What makes this week the perfect one for reading Renata's speech and Oscar's winning essay?

Yesterday was National Coming Out Day, which launched a week-long “coming out” of undocumented youth across the country.


A week from Sunday is March for America, in which thousands will go to Washington, D.C. to demand good jobs and full citizenship for all of America’s families.


This week was International Women's Day, and it was Conexion America's Renata Soto who eloquently matched up Rayo's award-winning story to the narrative of Martin Luther King, Jr. in the address she gave to Maryville College on January 14, 2010.

January 14 speech by Renata Soto at Maryville College, with full text of Oscar Rayo essay

As we celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I celebrate my African ancestors and their rich legacy so evident in our Latin American culture, music, art and way of life.

I also celebrate the presence and contributions of black Latinos to the local community and reflect on the struggles of African Americans here in my adopted home. While our histories are different --we came here by choice not by force--what it is common and shared in both stories is the desire for human dignity, the desire to fulfill the ideals of justice for all. We are reminded that we must deepen and strengthen the ties that bind our communities to make sure all children have access to a quality education, all neighborhoods are thriving and healthy, and all families are economically stable.

The Latino experience in the south is only understood if we are willing to understand the journey the most take to come here. It is a story of immigration. If we were in Texas or California, where the Latino community has a long historical presence, the topic of immigration would still be an important dimension but not the only one.

We cannot talk about Latinos in Tennessee without talking about immigration policy. We cannot have an honest conversation about Latinos and civil rights without talking about immigration policy.

Fifteen years ago when I started my nonprofit career working with Latinos in Atlanta, GA, I accepted as mine the challenge that Dr. King posted to all of us from a Birmingham jail when he wrote:

We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.

And that is why in the message that I bring to you today, I bring you the voice of Oscar. Oscar wrote the winning essay of Conexión Américas’ Essay Contest for Young Writers, an activity we host during our celebrations of Hispanic Heritage Month. The theme that high school students were asked to address was “Mis raices hispanas, mi sueño americano” (“My Hispanic Roots, My American Dream”). This is what Oscar wrote:

Essay by Oscar Rayo

My name is Oscar. I am 17 years old and I am in the 12th grade at John Overton High School in Nashville, TN. Five years ago, I left a poor town in Guerrero, Mexico, along with my father and brother to come to Nashville.

When I came to the United Sates, I brought with me a bag full of memories and dreams. The idea of having a better life and a better education filled my heart with joy and aspirations. Now that I am in the land of opportunity, those dreams and aspirations have become something different: goals.

The journey to the United States was very difficult. I had seen in the news that people died in the dessert, dehydrated or lost. I also had heard of people who had drowned in the river, who had lost their arms or legs, or that simply no one ever knew what had happened to them. All of that was very frightening, but the desire to see my family gave me strength to take the risk.

My father had decided that we would come in December to enjoy Christmas with my mother and sisters, who were already here.

The journey started in Ciudad Juarez. We along a group of people crossed the Rio Bravo in a boat in the morning. By night we were walking through the dessert, which was cold, even colder for our wet bodies.

We walked for seven hours through the dessert. We stopped every hour to drink some water and to rest a little. The one thing my father, brother and I did was to hold hands so we would not get lost or lose each other. Finally, we got to a highway, where a truck was waiting for us. We arrived to Houston, Texas, where some relatives picked us up and then brought us to Tennessee.

My experience here in the United States, like for millions of immigrants, has not been easy. The time I have lived here has taught me the meaning of perseverance. When I see my parents and sisters come back from work exhausted, it makes me think about all their efforts so that my brother and I can go to school.

My dream is to be able to go to college. I consider myself a good student, smart, diligent, dedicated and hard-working. I would like to go to college so that one day I can earn enough money to bring here my oldest brother, who is disabled. The left side of his body is partially paralyzed.

I also would like to go to college so that I can become someone my parents would be proud of.

My dream is to study accounting, although I am interested in many other things, such as history, mathematics and engineering. If I study accounting, I could manage my family’s finances. That is important because in difficult times like these, there are many families who are losing their homes. I would like to help those families.

One of my greatest dreams is that one day my voice, and the voices of my parents, of my siblings and of other 20 million immigrants, would be heard.

It is very sad to see that the nation for which we break our backs working, whose customs we have adopted, and whose tragedies we suffer as ours, does not accept us. We are not here to bother anyone. All we are looking for is the opportunity for a better life for us here and for our relatives back home.

Life as an immigrant is hard. We experience abuses, discrimination and many other injustices. The worst of all is that people do not report those abuses; they prefer to remain silent out fear of retaliation. Being an immigrant is like being invisible, voiceless, powerless. We live in constant fear of the possibilities of being detained and sent back home.

Every day when I come home from school, there is uncertainty for me. When I open the door, I don’t know whether I will find my parents and siblings. Every time when I see my parents coming back from work I turn to heaven and say “Gracias, Dios mio” (thank you, my God).

I don’t know what will happen if one day I make it home but the rest of family doesn’t.

My dream is that one day that separation of families will no longer be a threat and that something will be done so that I don’t have to live in constant fear.

I hope that someday something will be done so that immigrants don’t have to risk their lives or be separated from their families.

I also hope that I, and millions of Latino students, will have the opportunity to go to college so that we can become good, productive citizens.

Finalmente, espero que la voz de los inmigrantes sea escuchada y dejemos de vivir en las sombras.

And finally, I hope that one day the voice of immigrants will be heard and we will no longer have to live in the shadows.

(Soto speech, cont.)

Oscar is a very courageous young man. His essay, so open and honest, is a window to the obstacles and opportunities Latinos face.

In the occasion of this week’s celebrations of the life and legacy of Dr. King, I would like to reflect on Oscar’s 2009 essay through the lens of a few passages from Dr. King’s LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL, written in 1963.

Dr. King told us that

Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.

Yet today, Oscar lives in fear and feels he is voiceless, powerless. Not even an outsider, Oscar sees himself as “invisible.”

Oscar writes that the journey to come to this country was very frightening, but that the desire to see his mother and sisters gave him strength to take the risk, just like the desire of his parents to provide him with a better future left them with no choice but take the family up north. Even if there was not a legal path to get there.

Dr. King argued that “there are two types of laws: just and unjust.” He writes

I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.

He continues:

Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.

While Oscar’s parents were disobeying the US immigration laws when they decided to come here, they were also pursuing their moral responsibility and their basic human right to work with dignity, to be fairly compensated for that work, and to provide food and shelter and meet the basic needs of their children.

While there are factors that push Oscar’s family away from Mexico, there are also undeniable realities that pull them to come the US. The problem is those social and economic realities –here and there-- are not reflected in an outdated immigration system that welcomes them but almost as second-class citizens, an outdated immigration system that degrades their humanity: in the way it forces them to come here, in the way that exposes them to exploitation once working here, and in the way that isolates them from community life. This isolation is painfully real as Oscar reflects in his closing paragraph:

I hope that one day the voice of immigrants will be heard and we will no longer have to live in the shadows.

Now, I know this is a nation of laws, and the rule of law is one of the greatest foundations upon which this country is built. So what part of “illegal” don’t I understand? some of you may be asking.

I will add that, this is not simply a nation of laws…this is a nation of just laws. It is in that aspiration of “justice for all” that lays that strength of this great nation.

Dr. King wrote

In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law […] That would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty.

I cannot think of a more open defiance of the injustices of poverty and of the forces of nature than the journey one takes to cross the Rio Bravo. I know there is only love in the heart of Oscar’s parents when they decide to go north to pursue a better quality of life. And I know there is unquestionable willingness to accept the highest penalty when Oscar, his siblings and parents risk their lives and leave everything they know behind for the opportunity of a fresh start.

But still, you are asking, should we grant Oscar and his family the civil rights the rest of us rightfully enjoy?

The sanctity of civil rights in this country lies in the rights themselves, not the individuals they protect. When we relax those rights for anyone, we all suffer a profound loss. This concept was explained recently by the federal judge who struck down the anti-immigrant ordinances passed in Hazelton, PA. In his 206 page opinion, Judge Munley concluded,

The genius of our Constitution is that it provides rights even to those who evoke the least sympathy from the general public. In that way, all in this nation can be confident of equal justice under its laws...We cannot say clearly enough that persons who enter this country without legal authorization are not stripped immediately of all their rights because of this single act … The United States Supreme Court has consistently interpreted [the 14th Amendment] to apply to all people present in the United States, whether they were born here, immigrated here through legal means, or violated federal law to enter the country.

So I hear you saying, but why didn’t Oscar’s parents just wait in line for their turn to apply for a visa to come here? The simple reality is that there is no line for people like Oscar and his family. There is no line.

And to those of you who will insist Oscar’s parents should have waited until a legal path was open, I will share with you Dr. King’s words of impatience with…

...who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

Oscar and his parents could not have followed our timetable. They couldn’t sit and wait in despair and hopelessness for signs of courage from our leaders in congress to change our immigration system when –if ever- it appears politically convenient.

No one disputes that countries have a right to control their borders and who comes in. But sovereign responsibility needs to be balanced with a basic human right for people to have a home country, and a reasonable freedom to move to another country where one can better fulfill their god-given potential. Unfortunately, our current immigration system does not provide legal avenues for many of the immigrants like Oscar’s parents who come to make a better life here, and who work hard to contribute to our collective future, even if we don’t recognize it.

Unfortunately, when we refuse to change outdated laws and criminalize workers for their work, we don’t make immigrant workers less necessary to our economic vitality. We don’t change the underlying reasons why immigrants seek a life here. We simply make them more vulnerable to exploitation. And we make them retreat to further isolation out of fears of deportation if they try to protect themselves legally.

Remember the words from Oscar: We experience abuses, discrimination and many other injustices. The worst of all is that people do not report those abuses; they prefer to remain silent out fear of retaliation.

As we celebrate the legacy of Dr. King, and remind ourselves of the basic rights and freedoms we all share, it is imperative that we reexamine our national immigration system and ensure that people have a reasonable opportunity to come to this country through a safe, legal, and orderly process, to work and improve their lives with dignity and respect, and to live under the full protection of our laws.

As we answer Dr. King’s call for action, I leave you with words of Oscar, a simple but profound message:

One of my greatest dreams is that one day my voice, and the voices of my parents, of my siblings and of other 20 million immigrants, would be heard.

Please, listen to Oscar.

Our nation cannot afford to waste Oscar’s potential.

Our nation cannot be deprived of what he has to offer and of what he can become.

He represents the immigrant story that has built this country in the past, and he is also our future.

Labels: immigrants, justice

Post a Comment (1)

Recipient of 2003 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award

Part of MLK lecture series

Kerry Kennedy to moderate

Lucas Benitez, co-founder and co-director of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, will be a panelist at Speak Truth to Power, part of The Martin Luther King Jr. 2010 Commemorative Lecture Series at Vanderbilt University. The event will be moderated by Kerry Kennedy, American human rights activist and author of Speak Truth to Power, at Benton Chapel at 7:00 p.m.

According to the press release, "Benitez helped secure the first wage increase for tomato pickers in 20 years, exposed and stopped two slavery rings and launched a Labor Action Rights program that collected nearly $100,000 in back wages" and that he "organized a successful boycott of the fast-food chain Taco Bell that was called off in 2005 when the company agreed to address the wages and working conditions of farm workers in the Florida tomato industry."

For more on Benitez, see his remarks upon accepting the 2003 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award. It was the first time in the award's then-20-year history that it was presented to a U.S.-based organization.

See also this interview by the American Bar Association in 2000, this interview by Free the Slaves in 2005, this 2007 New York Times article, this transcript of his testimony before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee in 2008, and the web site of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.

Here is the press release for tonight's event:

Kerry Kennedy, human rights activist, daughter of Robert F. Kennedy and author of Speak Truth to Power will moderate a panel discussion on activism and justice Thursday, Jan. 28, at 7 p.m. at Vanderbilt University.

The event is free and open to the public and will be held in Benton Chapel.

Kennedy’s book, Speak Truth to Power, seeks to promote a more just and peaceful world by galvanizing public support for international human rights through cultural, educational and Web-based programs. A non-profit organization of the same name was started to engage the general public in an ongoing series of issue-related programs and events, bringing human rights activists and their work to wider audiences.

The book has also inspired a play by Chilean writer Ariel Dorfman, a photographic exhibition by Pulitzer Prize-winner Eddie Adams, a PBS documentary film, and an education packet. The Speak Truth to Power organization is a division of the nonprofit Robert F. Kennedy Memorial.

The panelists at the Vanderbilt event include:

- Lucas Benitez, the co-founder and co-director of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. By educating and organizing fellow migrant farm workers, he has helped secure the first wage increase for tomato pickers in 20 years, exposed and stopped two slavery rings and launched a Labor Action Rights program that collected nearly $100,000 in back wages. He organized a successful boycott of the fast-food chain Taco Bell that was called off in 2005 when the company agreed to address the wages and working conditions of farm workers in the Florida tomato industry.

- Stephen Bradberry, the head organizer of Louisiana ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for ReformNow. ACORN has been active in communities of color for more than 30 years. Bradberry has served in low and moderate-income neighborhoods in Louisiana for more than a decade. His chapter of the national community group, ACORN, has more than 10,000 member families and works specifically in the area of living wages, environmental justice and voting rights.

- Marina Pisklakova, an internationally recognized leading women’s rights activist in Russia. As founder of the National Center for the Prevention of Violence “ANNA” she works on creating an effective system of response to domestic violence by educating governmental officials and the public about the issue of domestic violence in Russia and other countries. For the past 12 years she has been involved in training for newly established crisis centers for women, for law enforcement and other governmental officials on the topics of domestic violence, human trafficking and women’s human rights.

For more information about Speak Truth to Power, visit www.speaktruth.org.

Labels: business, education, justice

Post a Comment (0)

Dear New York Times:

Please look at the frequency of your paper's use of the word "illegal" as an adjective to describe individuals in the comparative contexts of (a) immigration law and (b) other laws.

You may find to your chagrin that immigrants are nearly the only group of people you describe as "illegal," and immigration law is the only law the Times reports on this way.

The January 3, 2010 article "Whither the Dream" uses the term "illegal student" in the context of immigration law.

The January 8, 2010 blog post "Italy Puts Swiss Tax Haven Under Siege," however, described a separate category of lawbreaking - tax evasion - without once using the noun or adjective "illegal" to describe the lawbreakers themselves. The author's descriptions of the people who had violated the law were "the rich," "tax evaders," "Italians," and "Italian clients."

The disparity between the January 3 article on immigration law and the January 8 blog post on tax law is not attributable to the difference between your paper's articles and its blog posts. The difference is representative of a broader trend at the Times.

A Google search for the word "illegal" on your pages reveals numbers of people described in headlines as "illegal" if the law at issue is immigration, but the same treatment of anyone else in regard to any other law is rare. And when the Times switches to other words besides "illegal," to describe a person it's seldom in regard to immigration. A search for the word "lawbreaker" on your pages shows approximately 750 occurrences, but only 55 also include the word "immigrant." How often do the words "illegal" and "immigrant" appear in the same story together? 13,600. How many appearances of the words "illegal immigrant"? 4,740.

If the standard for reporting on people who break the law is to predominantly use neutral terms like "the rich," "Italians," and "lawbreakers," then it's questionable to switch to a vocabulary modifying your descriptions of people with a legal adjective - "illegal" - just because the law is immigration.

So please start referring to students as "students" and leave it at that.

For the sake of variety, you may still decide it is appropriate to occasionally throw in a legal description of a person, as was done once with the term "tax evaders" in the tax-related blog post. May I suggest that for immigration law, the adjectives "visaless" and/or "unvisaed" are more specific than "illegal" or even "undocumented" or "unauthorized," because it's the lack of a visa (or immigration-specific authorization) that more specifically describes people without immigration status. If you search for usage of the term "unvisaed" here in the U.S., you won't find it much, but it's a commonly used term in Australia. "Visaless" is an even more common term. Both are reasonable alternatives. If you find these unacceptable, maybe no adjective is useful, and you may find it helpful to focus on describing behavior instead of characterizing people.

At least be consistent between your descriptions of people who are on the wrong side of immigration laws and people who are on the wrong side of tax laws.

Best regards,

John Lamb
Nashville, TN

Make your voice heard here.

Photo by Thomas Hawk. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Labels: justice

Post a Comment (1)

Scene reports on the status of the DREAM Act

The Nashville Scene recently reported on "Oscar," a Nashville high school student with the kind of immigration problem that can get him deported, and the DREAM Act, the kind of legislation that can fully integrate him into American society.

I recently met Oscar at a conference, and his leadership in one of the sessions impressed me. I found out afterwards about his immigration problem. It crushed me. The same thing had happened to me over and over again when my family and I attended the Primera Iglesia Bautista on Murfreesboro Road, when people I knew for months would come up to me about their own immigration problems once word got to them that I was a lawyer.

The sad reality was (and is) that there are few immigration problems that can be fixed. It's a dead end, for the most part.

Dedicated youth like Oscar who have no individual culpability for the fact that they don't have a visa deserve at least one chance to earn legal status. Many already demonstrate personal responsibility in the circumstances they can control, like their studies, and as in Oscar's case, in extracurricular activities as well, where leadership skills flourish. The DREAM Act would verify that these students have kept their noses clean and done everything that's been expected of them through the end of high school, and grant them legal status. It would no longer be a dead end.

Instead of wasting the beneficial America-child relationship that has been developing throughout their young lives, we should be realizing that these young immigrants are already assets - already "us" - and make sure our laws see them that way.

The DREAM Act is a wonderful start. The Scene story has more details about the law and about students like Oscar. Aunt B. also has an August post entitled "Kids Who Need the Dream Act," among others.

Getting the DREAM Act passed

U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper told the Scene that a lot more work is needed to make the DREAM Act a reality:

"Right now the DREAM Act is a dream," he tells the Scene flatly. "And to turn that into reality is going to take a whole lot more work than anybody has put in so far."
...
Cooper adds that even if the DREAM Act passed in Congress, the Tennessee legislature would have to green-light portions of the legislation, mainly the question of whether to allow in-state tuition to undocumented students.

Well, at least one form of work to make the DREAM Act a reality is to contact our represented officials. Contact your U.S. representative at writerep.house.gov, and contact your U.S. senators at alexander.senate.gov and corker.senate.gov. (Remind Alexander and Corker that Republican Senator Orrin Hatch and Republican Senator Richard Lugar have been sponsors.)

In the House, Representative Steve Cohen is already a sponsor.

Labels: education, immigrants, justice

Post a Comment (0)

Journalists, politicians, and anyone interested in politics, take note.

On Sunday, Chas Sisk's top-of-the-fold Tennessean cover story on business tax amnesty demonstrated how to describe unlawful behavior without using the noun or adjective "illegal" to describe the lawbreaker.

The word choices to describe the people who had violated the law were simple: "businesses," "companies," "people," "businesspeople," and "owners."

Only two terms in the article turned the lawless behavior into a noun or adjective that described the offender: "scofflaws" and "noncompliant businesses." These terms were used half as frequently as the generic terms such as "businesses" and "people." The term "illegal" doesn't appear once.

If the standard for Americans who break the law is to predominantly use terms like "businesses" and "people," then it's slanted to commonly describe foreigners who break the law as "illegal" or "undocumented," and picking one word over the other can't make the descriptions any more accurate or any less unequal.

As I said last month, how we handle our words when we describe foreigners is a moral issue. If we tend to avoid certain words (like "illegal") when we describe an American who breaks the law, we mustn't favor that vocabulary when it's a foreigner who breaks the law. Being even-handed in our criticism of Americans and foreigners is about being morally, not politically, correct.

For a run-down of the Tennessean article's exact word choice, see here.

See also: Elizabeth Wright is pro-amnesty and Even tax collectors want to make compliance easy.

Labels: immigrants, justice

Post a Comment (0)

Earlier this month, I was buying a "tres leches" cake at the La Espiga bakery on Nolensville Road.

If you haven't tasted tres leches cake, it's kind of moist. I don't really have a taste for it, but it's my wife's favorite, and it was her birthday.

As I was paying for the cake (and a few other pastries we called "Berliners" in Chile), I noticed a box next to the cash register, with this message:

"I need your cooperation with little boy Axel. He was born with a bone problem called 'antigriposis.' His parents Alexis and Alan were reported, and the three children stayed behind with their grandmother. I ask you for your help, brothers. May God bless you."

Axel, Alexis, and Alan: three names of Hispanic Nashvillians. Two of them - the "reported" parents, may or may not return here to be Nashvillians ever again. If they do, it will almost certainly constitute an immigration violation, at least under current law.

What "la espiga" means, and Jesus' lawbreaking disciples

Before I sat down at the computer to post this picture and this story, I had thought "La Espiga" - the name of this bakery - meant "the crumb." Actually, "miga" is the word for crumb, and "la espiga" means, "the head of grain." It's a word that comes up a lot in the Bible.

I went looking for some "head of grain" verses, and three of the four times the word appears in the Gospels is in a story about Jesus and his disciples being rebuked for lawbreaking.

One recounting of the story is in Mark 2:23-28 (NLT):

One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples began breaking off heads of grain to eat. But the Pharisees said to Jesus:

Look, why are they breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?

Jesus said to them:

Haven’t you ever read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He went into the house of God (during the days when Abiathar was high priest) and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. He also gave some to his companions.

My thoughts turn to Axel, Alexis, and Alan during this Nashville Christmas.

Labels: faith, justice, spanish

Post a Comment (1)

Criticism not applied to Americans, and not specific

The importance of a name

Whether the word "illegal" is an appropriate way to describe someone with an immigration problem is the subject of debate again.

On Tuesday, USA Today prominently used the term "illegal students" in an otherwise informative article about students trapped in their immigration status, and Change.org organized a petition in protest. I think it's important to sign the Change.org petition, even though I would quibble with its wording.

The use of "illegal" as an adjective or a noun has bothered me for a while. In October, 2006, a reader-inspired fake ad campaign (sample above) pointed out the ethical problem of how Americans break the law but never call ourselves "illegal." One of my January 2007 posts called out the Tennessean when it used the word "illegal" as a noun in a headline, a practice which the National Association of Hispanic Journalists said they are "particularly troubled" by. In October of this year, Kleinheider noticed my use of the term "visaless" in one of my stories about the Baby Yair case, in which the State wouldn't turn over a rescued baby to family members on the grounds of their immigration status.

Name-calling is easy when the name can't apply to you

When a label is a criticism, it's ethically important for the label to be one that could apply to the person making the criticism.

We all know we don't use "illegal" in the same way when we describe Americans with other legal problems. I remember seeing "illegal" used as a noun in an ABC News headline recently, so on a lark I just searched Google News for all ABC News stories using the word "illegal" in a headline. I went through ten pages of results, and there wasn't a single reference to an American lawbreaker. There were a few references to illegal conduct by Americans outside the context of immigration, but no use of the word "illegal" to describe the American person or people in the story.

A Google search revealed some reference to "visaless" in reference to Americans traveling abroad without permission, so that gives the label greater credibility as one that could be used in reference to foreign citizens who are traveling or living abroad (here) without permission.

The words "internationals" or "expatriates" are other words that are more often used to describe Americans abroad that could be adopted into our vocabulary of describing foreign citizens here.

Be specific

In describing the status of someone with immigration problems, "visaless" and/or "unvisaed" are also more specific than "illegal" or even "undocumented" or "unauthorized," because it's the lack of a visa that more specifically describes people without immigration status. Most visaless people usually are in possession of whatever documents the government allows them to have - you've never seen a visaless immigrant driving without a license plate, have you? And until the change in TN law, unvisaed immigrants had drivers' licenses, which made the concept of a driver who is legally licensed but still referred to as "undocumented" even more clearly nonsensical.

If you search the web for "unvisaed" you don't see the term used much here in the U.S., except by me in the pages of HispanicNashville.com - but it's a commonly used term in Australia. As mentioned above, "visaless" is an even more common term. Both are reasonable alternatives.

And just to be clear on two points: First, figuring out what word to use is not the same thing as figuring out or making a statement on what immigration law is or how people should act in regard to immigration law. Second, I use and have used a variety of terms to describe problematic immigration status (including the less favored ones described here), so my point in this post is not to force or prohibit the use of one term or another, but to encourage the use of the best possible terms.

"I have called you by your name"

Along those lines of encouraging the use of the best possible terms, and all this having been said, it's worth remembering that the best label for someone is their name.

Some people like to joke that those of us who resist the term "illegal" would call a thief in our homes an "undocumented explorer" or something like that. In response to that kind of joke, and putting aside for a moment the fact that they wouldn't use the term "illegal thief" either, my thought is that if someone is living and working in your house and getting paid for that work for a number of years, it's you that's out of place if you're calling them anything other than their name.

The importance of a name was eloquently invoked by Phil Bennett of Belmont Church in his recent post, "His name is James." I encourage you to read Phil's full post here. In the comments, Becky Nickins drove the point home for Christians:

"I have called you by your name; you are Mine”
Is. 43:1

Labels: immigrants, justice

Post a Comment (0)

WHO: Moderator, Attorney Lynda Jones-The Jones Law Group PLLC
Panelist, Attorney Jerrilyn Manning- Member of TN Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
Panelist, Attorney Dawn Deaner- Metropolitan Public Defender
Interpreters, Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

WHAT: KNOWING YOUR RIGHTS IN A TRAFFIC STOP

WHEN: Saturday, December 5, from 9a.m. to noon
Free and open to the public

WHERE: PJ Hall of Fisk University's Jubilee Hall

From the Nashville Metro Police website:

Any person who feels that he or she has been mistreated by a sworn officer or a civilian employee of the police department has the right to make a complaint.
...
If at any time an officer or an employee of the Metropolitan Police Department mistreats, harasses, intimidates or commits a crime against you, remember the names of the officers, what they looked like and the time and date of the event.

You should then report the incident immediately. It may be reported to the officer's immediate supervisor, or any other person responsible for supervising the officer. It may also be reported to the Office of Professional Accountability (hereinafter O.P.A.), the Human Relations Commission or the Offices of the NAACP or the Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Photo by Kipp Baker. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Labels: events, justice

Post a Comment (0)

Fabian Bedne, one of the Nashvillians mentioned in the article
"Finding Nashville's Hispanic Voice" is the title of today's Nashville City Paper article that takes a deeper dive into the city's Hispanic politicians and how more might appear in the future.

Among the people quoted are Fabian Bedne, Yuri Cunza, Cesar Muedas, Mario Ramos, and me:

The election of Latinos can be accelerated by these and other appointments to boards and commissions, said John Lamb, editor of the Hispanic Nashville Notebook — one of several Web sites dedicated to news about the city’s Hispanic community.

“Maybe it’s more likely for someone to be electable when they’ve been introduced to the community in places where they can serve,” he said.

Lamb pointed to how Bedne’s community involvement served as something of a launching pad.

Read the full article, written by Tim Ghianni, here.

Labels: justice

Post a Comment (0)

"They should be allowed to stay...": 51.0%

The 2009 MTSU poll asked this question:

Which comes closest to your view about illegal immigrants who are currently working in the U.S.?

• "They should be allowed to stay in their jobs, and to eventually apply for US citizenship."
• "They should be allowed to stay in their jobs only as temporary guest workers, but not to apply for U.S. citizenship."
• "They should be required to leave their jobs and leave the U.S."

And these were the answers:

"They should be allowed to stay...": 51.0%

• "...and to eventually apply for U.S. citizenship": 29.4%
• "...but not to apply for U.S. citizenship": 21.6%

"They should be required to leave...": 42.8%

Conducted by Middle Tennessee State University’s College of Mass Communication, the telephone poll of 716 randomly selected Tennessee adults has an error margin of plus or minus four percentage points at the 95 percent level of confidence. Theoretically, this means that a sample of this size should produce a statistical portrait of the population within four percentage points 95 out of 100 times. The Survey Group at MTSU provides independent, non-partisan and unbiased public opinion data regarding major social, political and ethical issues affecting Tennessee. The poll began in 1998 as a measure of public opinion in the 39 counties comprising Middle Tennessee and began measuring public opinion statewide in 2001. Learn more and view the full report on the poll’s website, www.mtsusurveygroup.org.

Seventy-five percent of Tennessee Hispanics are U.S. citizens or legal residents (story here).

Illustration by HispanicNashville.com

Labels: business, immigrants, justice, statistics

Post a Comment (0)

Metro Council Member Frank Harrison

City Paper also provides broad coverage of opposition viewpoint

Last Tuesday, October 20, three Metro Council members expressed Nashville's first official opposition to 287(g) in its current form. "287(g)" is the name for the program that ratchets up the interactions between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. In some of the 60 or so jurisdictions where 287(g) is in place, thousands of people have been deported even though they are not dangerous criminals. Nashville is one of those jurisdictions.

The council members voting against 287(g) were Megan Barry, Sam Coleman and Frank Harrison.

I asked Frank Harrison why he voted the way he did, and this was his response:

I felt that it was the right thing for me to do and would have preferred some debate before the vote. Perhaps more would have felt the same. Also I would not feel comfortable being part of causing hardships on families.

The lack of debate before the vote was reported by the Tennessean here and lamented by local blogger Aunt B. here:

If you cannot face the people most affected by a decision you make and explain your reasons for making your decision, even if it will be wildly unpopular with them, it tells both you and those people something–that you know you’re doing the wrong thing.

Monday's City Paper gave opponents' points a lot of ink, starting with the main story:

"The reality of the program here is that the vast majority of people who are being identified by this program have committed misdemeanors,” Esquivel said. “Rather than focusing on what I think there's a broad consensus on — which is using this program to target real criminals — we're using it to target people who are not criminals in any sense that the community had in mind when this was rolled out or what it ought to be used for.”

The City Paper's anonymous columnist "Rex Noseworthy" caught a hypothetical about the potential economic impact of 287(g):

“How long will it be a until a Nissan executive from Mexico has a rental car with a faulty blinker and winds up in a Metro jail because of it?” Esquivel asked.

Kleinheider, from the City Paper's sister publication the Nashville Post, explored the influence of ideology on support for or opposition to 287(g):

Most people who support the 287(g) program no more want the police actively targeting undocumented workers to deport than most opponents want the government giving illegal immigrants unfettered access to public services.

The City Paper excerpts above are brief clips; there is more discussion about 287(g) in the full content of the main story here, in Rex's column here, and in Kleinheider's column here.

Labels: 287g, immigrants, justice

Post a Comment (0)

Photo by Brent Moore. Licensed by Creative Commons.

How many peace-loving families have to be sacrificed to get rid of dangerous criminals?

Prayer vigil at 5:30 p.m.

Last night, I was at the Courthouse to watch the Metro Council public safety committee deliberate the "287(g)" agreement between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. Thousands of people have been deported out of Middle Tennessee as a result of the program, most of whom were not dangerous criminals. The 287(g) agreement was nonetheless unanimously approved by the committee.

Two 287(g) opponents were given the chance to express their concerns that people who aren't dangerous are being caught up in the program more than dangerous criminals are. David Esquivel, the son of Cuban immigrants, talked about the disproportionately severe impact on ordinary people in the immigrant community. Pastor Gwen Brown-Felder of Ernest Newman United Methodist Church offered the committee a vision of 287(g) as contrary to our faith. Her comments crystallized for me that we will look back on 287(g) in shame.

The good news is that a handful of council members asked thoughtful questions of the Sheriff, who gave his own presentation. At least two council members, however, took a simplistic view of the issue. One of them quoted the Bible and in the next breath concluded with, "what part of illegal don't you understand." So much for Letter from Birmingham Jail.

The committee's unanimous vote in favor of the program was disappointing. I left the Council chambers concerned for my hometown. To see the city so far from Brown-Felder's vision was disheartening.

As I was walking off the beautiful new lawn of Public Square, under a refreshingly clear field of stars, my only recourse was to pray. I prayed for my city. I prayed for the hearts of stone to be softened. God was close, bigger than the city machinations that had just taken place.

Below my feet as I faced War Memorial auditorium and the newly refurbished Deaderick Avenue, I noticed the word "STRENGTH" in an artistic feature in the Public Square pavement. "Strength" was a value the committee likely thought it was implementing perfectly by approving 287(g) without a second thought. I wondered what other values appeared in the pavement around the circle-shaped lawn, and whether there might be a complimentary value to strength that the city aspired to. I walked around the circle to the towers that bump up against the Cumberland River to see what was the counterbalance to "Strength."

It was "PROTECTION" - surely another value that the committee would consider it had upheld last night. Was I surprised that "Strength" would be balanced by "Protection" - definitely, yes. Not much of a check and balance.

Then I noticed I wasn't done examining the circle. In the 6 o'clock position in the circle there was another value.

It was "WISDOM."

Particularly appropriate that wisdom is the closest of the three values to the new reflecting pools and also to the fountain that rises from the ground at the southern entrance to the plaza. A city that so thoughtfully developed this place of reflection and meditation rightly honored wisdom with this central and thoughtful location.

It's an empty wisdom, however, that merely defers to strength and protection instead of informing the exercise of those values. In the words of Primo Levi:

A country is considered the more civilized the more the wisdom and efficiency of its laws hinder a weak man from becoming too weak or a powerful one too powerful.

The charge of this city to the members of the Metro Council is that they bring wisdom to their full vote on 287(g) tonight. I would ask council members, have you spent any time with immigrants and their world-class advocates in Nashville, without which it is impossible to fully consider the facts about an immigrant-related local program?

Have you asked how many peace-loving families have to be sacrificed to get rid of dangerous criminals? Can the disproportions ever become so great before the trade-off is deemed unjust, inefficient and unwise?

Constituents of Nashville's council, please ask yourself the same questions and urge your representatives to write our laws and give our city's approval not just with safety or protection in mind. Wisdom calls for more.

A prayer vigil will be held tonight at 5:30 p.m. at the Courthouse.

For more on the strength, protection, and wisdom symbolism at the Courthouse, as well as other values, see Paragraph II B of this 1981 report by Ann Reynolds, Historic Preservationist, Historical Commission of Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County and section 1.G. of this recent call for artwork to represent those values. See the diagram below for the layout of Public Square and the pavement decorations.

Labels: 287g, immigrants, justice

Post a Comment (1)

Former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales

Headliner for "Hispanic Heritage Month Grand Finale Fiesta"

Gonzales was first Hispanic American and Mexican-American U.S. Attorney General

"I consider myself a casualty, one of the many casualties of the war on terror"

Honored by United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce, United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, League of United Latin American Citizens, Harvard Law School Association Award, Hispanic National Bar Association, United Way, others

Immigration status of three grandparents "unclear"

The Republican National Hispanic Assembly of Tennessee sent out an invitation to its "Hispanic Heritage Month Grand Finale Fiesta" featuring former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. The event will take place on October 22, from 11:30 a.m. -1 p.m. at the Waller Lansden law firm downtown. The invitation is available at the end of this post and also at the RNHA of TN's new web address rnhaoftn.org

Washington career and "War on Terror"

Gonzales was sworn in as the nation's 80th Attorney General on February 3, 2005, and was the first Hispanic American and Mexican-American to hold that position. Prior to serving at the Department of Justice, he was commissioned as White House Counsel to President George W. Bush in January of 2001.

As both Attorney General and White House Counsel, Gonzales was a central figure in what the Bush administration described as the "War on Terror." Gonzales authored a controversial memo in January 2002 that explored the application of Article III of the Geneva Convention to Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters captured in Afghanistan and held in detention facilities around the world. He also authored the Presidential Order which authorized the use of military tribunals to try terrorist suspects. He fought with Congress to keep Vice President Dick Cheney's Energy task force documents from being reviewed. Gonzales was also an early advocate of the controversial USA PATRIOT Act.

Gonzales' testimony before Congress about a domestic warrantless wiretap program and a related 2004 hospital visit he made to then-Attorney General John Ashcroft was the subject of controversy that immediately preceded his resignation.

Gonzales has characterized his role in Washington as that of a scapegoat:

For some reason, I am portrayed as the one who is evil in formulating policies that people disagree with. I consider myself a casualty, one of the many casualties of the war on terror.

Texas career

Prior to serving in the White House, Gonzales served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas. Before his appointment to the Texas Supreme Court in 1999, he served as Texas' 100th Secretary of State from December 2, 1997 to January 10, 1999. Among his many duties as Secretary of State, Gonzales was a senior advisor to then Governor Bush, chief elections officer, and the Governor's lead liaison on Mexico and border issues.

Prior to his appointment as Secretary of State, Gonzales was the General Counsel to Governor Bush for three years. Before joining the Governor's staff, he was a partner with the law firm of Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. in Houston, Texas. He joined the firm in June 1982. While in private practice, Gonzales also taught law as an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law Center.

Honors

Among his many honors, in 2003 Gonzales was inducted into the Hispanic Scholarship Fund Alumni Hall of Fame, was honored with the Good Neighbor Award from the United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce, and received President's Awards from the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the League of United Latin American Citizens. In 2002, he was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus of Rice University by the Association of Rice Alumni and was honored by the Harvard Law School Association with the Harvard Law School Association Award. Gonzales was recognized as the 1999 Latino Lawyer of the Year by the Hispanic National Bar Association, and he received a Presidential Citation from the State Bar of Texas in 1997 for his dedication to addressing basic legal needs of the indigent. He was chosen as one of the Five Outstanding Young Texans by the Texas Jaycees in 1994, and as the Outstanding Young Lawyer of Texas by the Texas Young Lawyers Association in 1992. Gonzales was honored by the United Way in 1993 with a Commitment to Leadership Award, and received the Hispanic Salute Award in 1989 from the Houston Metro Ford Dealers for his work in the field of education.

Family, education, military service

Gonzales was born in San Antonio, Texas and raised in a small town outside of Houston. He was the second of eight children born to Maria Gonzales, who had a sixth grade education, and Pablo Gonzales, a construction worker who had a second-grade education. According to Gonzales, it's "unclear" whether his three Mexican-born grandparents entered and resided in the United States legally or illegally.

He is a graduate of Texas public schools, Rice University, and Harvard Law School. Gonzales served in the United States Air Force between 1973 and 1975, and attended the United States Air Force Academy between 1975 and 1977. He and his wife, Rebecca Turner Gonzales, have three sons.

Gonzales currently teaches a political science course at Texas Tech University.

Invitation

The invitation to the October 22 event is below:

The RNHA Invites You:

To Celebrate,
Hispanic Heritage Month Grand Finale Fiesta

and meet Attorney General Alberto Gonzales

October 22nd
11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
at the Law Offices of Waller/Lansden
511 Union St 27th Floor

$35.00 per person
R.S.V.P. by October 20th at
rauljlopez@comcast.net

11:15 a.m.
Private Photo Reception at the Hermitage Hotel

If you are interested in attending the Private Photo Reception
with Alberto Gonzales and/or the Lunch Fiesta please call
Juan Borges at (615) 579-5161 or email Raul Lopez at rauljlopez@comcast.net

Lunch Hosts
Mayor Bill Haslam and Congressman Zach Wamp
State Senator Bill Ketron, Jim Tracy, Diane Black and Dolores Gresham
State Representative Beth Harwell and Glen Casada, Steve Lynn, Tera Vazquez, Nelson Remus, Rene Valadez
Tim Skow, Sylvia Marcela Gomez, Attorney of Law Diana Cachaya and Jesus Cachaya, Attorney of Law Larry Crain, Attorney of Law Paul Ney, Wilson County Republican Party

Biographical information courtesy of U.S. government and Wikipedia. U.S. government text is in the public domain. Wikipedia text is under a Creative Commons license; this post may be reproduced under the same terms of that license.

Labels: events, justice

Post a Comment (0)

"DCS is supposed to try to keep families together and there were plenty of relatives willing to take in the children"

2009 Ketron bill would make i.d. available to qualified visaless applicants

Nashvillian Maria Gurrola has been cleared of the baby-selling allegations that arose following the abduction of her son, Yair Carillo, but those allegations put her children in state custody for a few days until she was cleared. Yesterday, Travis Loller of the Associated Press reported the reason for the taking of the children.

Loller reports that the Tennessee Department of Children's Services ("DCS") took Maria Gurrola's children away from her during the investigation of the now-disproven allegations because some of Gurrola's family members, who could have otherwise taken the children, are visaless and don't have sufficient I.D. for a background check:

Maria Gurrola, still recovering from stab wounds and a collapsed lung, started crying and shaking when she learned week-old Yahir Anthony Carrillo and his three siblings would be put into foster homes, said Norma Rodriguez, the cousin of Jose Carrillo, the baby's father.
...
[Gurrola's court-appointed attorney Dennis] Nordhoff questioned the need to put the already-suffering family through the trauma of separation. He said DCS is supposed to try to keep families together and there were plenty of relatives willing to take in the children, but DCS would not allow it because they were illegal immigrants, although some of them had been in the country for many years without ever getting in any trouble. Gurrola is originally from Durango, Mexico.
...
[DCS Spokesman Rob] Johnson, speaking generally, said, "DCS always looks for relatives who already know a child as an alternative to state custody, but DCS must be able to perform background checks and DCS must be able to verify people's relationships to a family in question."

Over 40,000 visaless Tennesseans were stripped of their I.D. when the state changed its drivers license law in 2004. A 2009 bill by State Senator Bill Ketron (R) would make a state-issued I.D. available to qualified visaless applicants.

Gurrola's experience is another example of why it is important for everyone to be able to have I.D. Also, it's the first time that the family members' immigration status has been reported in a way that is relevant to the Gurrola story (see my Monday and Tuesday discussions of the relevance of immigration status to this story).

I say "visaless" and/or "unvisaed" instead of "undocumented," because it's the lack of a visa that more specifically describes people without immigration status. Most visaless people usually are in possession of whatever documents the government allows them to have - you've never seen a visaless immigrant driving without a license plate, have you? And until the change in TN law, the visaless had drivers' licenses, which made the term "undocumented" even more clearly inappropriate.

*And is it "Gurrola" or "Gurrolla"? The Tennessean and now Loller's AP piece are using "Gurrola." The Nashville police department had previously reported both spellings, even in the same press release, but it appears that corrections have been made to unify the police department's spelling to "Gurrolla." On the other hand, the FBI's criminal complaint against the alleged abductor uses "Gurrola" exclusively. Google News searches show that there are many more stories with the "Gurrolla" spelling than with the "Gurrola" spelling.

Photo by atom heart father. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Labels: immigrants, justice

Post a Comment (0)

Tennessean narrows focus to core question: "It's unknown why Gurrola was targeted and how her attacker knew when to strike"

I'm still struggling with whether it's right to report an alleged crime victim's immigration status, which was the basis of my post yesterday about Maria Gurrolla*, the Nashville mother who appeared before the press last week to report that her newborn son had been stolen by someone posing as an immigration agent.

Here's how an actual journalist (which I am not) compared the dilemma about mentioning immigration status in a story to the issue of mentioning race, and this quote was part of the Poynter.org piece I linked to yesterday:

Immigration, in some respects, is like another thorny identifier in stories: race. We've been taught that you only identify one's race if race is central to the story. Immigration status mandates a similar threshold. (Of course, identifying someone's race will never get them deported.)

My question is whether the alleged victim's actual immigration status should be in the story. Using the test above, is the victim's actual immigration status "central" to the story of an alleged abduction in which the alleged perpetrator posed as an immigration agent?

Here's why the immigration status of the alleged victim might not be central to the story, even when the alleged perpetrator poses as an immigration agent:

1. The Question. The central question is a combination of, "why was the alleged victim targeted," and "why was the immigration agent ruse chosen?"

2. The Possible Answers. Possible answers to one or both of those questions include the following:

(a) that the alleged victim had observable characteristics that are equated with problematic visa status, like the Spanish language and/or ethnicity (see “Alderman Cherry responded, ‘If they’re speaking Spanish, I tend to think they are illegal.’”)

(b) that the alleged victim had observable characteristics that are equated with the Hispanic community, which has a heightened word-of-mouth awareness of being on the wrong end of an immigration raid, whether justified or not, and also proximity to people who would be subject to an immigration raid, or

(c) the alleged victim’s actual immigration status, which if tenuous, and also if that fact was known by the alleged perpetrator, would imply that the perpetrator had more information about the alleged victim than what could be obtained by casual observation.

Addressing Question 1 by reporting that the alleged perpetrator's motive and strategy are unknown - as the Tennessean did this morning - is central to the story. Going straight to Answer 2(c) without even mentioning Question 1 is not central to the story. Answer 2(c) becomes central to the story after Question 1 has been mentioned first, as well as 2(a) and 2(b) or any other possible answers. Answer 2(c) also becomes central to the story when facts are revealed that make it the actual or more likely answer.

Why does this matter to me? Maybe because it leaves a bad taste in my mouth to see an alleged victim hounded by questions of what the victim might have done wrong. Also, if the assumption is that someone who opens the door for an immigration agent might be hiding an immigration problem, then what is the assumption about someone who refuses to open the door for an immigration agent?

Labels: immigrants, justice

Post a Comment (1)

If someone posing as the IRS attacked you at work, would the press interview your accountant?

Boy found after 4-day search

Even before Maria Gurrolla's days-old son Yair Anthony Carillo was found after only four days, thanks to amazing police and investigative work, the abductor's ruse led the press to dedicate part of their stories to the immigration status of the mother (saying it was "unclear" or "unknown").

Why should the ruse of the criminal abductor lead to reporting on the immigration status of the victim? If someone posing as the IRS attacked you at work, would there be an investigation into your tax returns?

An AP report by Kristin Hall simultaneously brings up the immigration status of Gurrolla while pointing out that Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said that her immigration status was "not significant to the investigation":

Police said they think the mom has been in Nashville about 10 years, but it isn't clear if she is an immigrant or a citizen. Her family has declined to talk about the issue, and police spokesman Don Aaron said her citizenship was not significant to the investigation.

According to a police press release, Gurrolla had to be hospitalized with stab wounds "to her head, neck, breast and thigh." It was also reported that Gurrolla had a collapsed lung as a result of the attack.

In 2008, journalist asked when immigration status is relevant

A year and a half ago in a column on Poynter.org, Mizanur Rahman of the Houston Chronicle asked the question, when is it relevant to report on the immigration status of crime suspects?

I'm wondering when it is relevant to report on the immigration status of victims.

Child abduction has hit Hispanic Nashvillians before

Kristin Hall's AP article rightly points out that an attempted abduction of another Hispanic Nashvillian child occurred in 2005, but with much worse results: the mother and her 3-year-old daughter were killed.

Labels: immigrants, justice

Post a Comment (1)

State senator intervention is free, but the new process would cost $500

Speaker Ramsey and Deputy Speaker Ketron visit Hispanic Heritage Month networking lunch

A few weeks ago, I sat down across a lunch table from Tennessee State Senator Bill Ketron (R-13). Sen. Ketron's district comes within a stone's throw of my home, covering "western Rutherford County and all of Maury, Marshall and Lincoln counties," according to his web site. The site also points out that Ketron has been Deputy Speaker of the Senate since January 2009.

The event we attended was the Tennessee Hispanic Chamber of Commerce networking lunch celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, on September 3 at Chappy's on Church Street, in the Napoleon Banquet Room.

The conversation turned to state-level bills related to immigrants and immigration. Since I was across the centerpiece from Sen. Ketron, it was a little hard to hear. It seemed that I was hearing that Sen. Ketron supports the concept that people in the U.S. without a visa should nonetheless be able to identify themselves with I.D. issued here, and that "coming out of the shadows" is a good thing.

The background that led to this position seems to be that Sen. Ketron was once able to use his position in government to help someone get in line for either a visa or citizenship. I believe Ketron wrote a letter to the immigration authorities on behalf of this person.

Sen. Ketron thought there should be an easier way than having to go through your state senator.

His idea was that if a person comes here for a good reason and just wants to make a living and raise a family, coming clean and applying for immigration relief should be easier than it is currently. (For those who don't want to live here peacefully, they should be picked up and shipped out, he said.)

So what can a state senator do? For starters, he authored the bill identified as SB 2158. Under this bill, the State must issue an I.D. card to anyone proving identity and 15 days' residency in Tennessee. After two years of living with a trackable identity, good behavior gets the cardhold a letter from the state - just like the letter Sen. Ketron sent on behalf of his constituent - except instead of having to get the letter from a state senator, the cardholder gets it from the state itself (the bill is silent on which state agency would send the letter).

Here are some specifics about SB 2158:

• What will appear on the i.d. card, at a minimum:

  the cardholder's name, photograph, date of birth, gender, and an expiration date.

• How the state will verify the data on the card: the bill specifies the documents that establish identity and residence either by themselves or in combination with other documents, depending on the document.
• What the state will charge: $500 for adults; $250 for minors. If the Department of Safety come up with a way to verify income, it can offer discounts or even waivers to low-income applicants.
• Obligations imposed on recipients: any foreign citizen who applies for the card has to sign a form stating

  that the person pledges to learn the basics of the English language and abide by the laws of this state and country

• Sending a letter to the immigration authorities to show good behavior: two years after issuance of the card, if "the person has not been convicted of any felony or Class A misdemeanor" and if "the person passes a test on the basics of the English language" then

  the state shall work with the appropriate federal agencies to help the person become a citizen of the United States.

• Driving privileges conferred: none

Labels: immigrants, justice

Post a Comment (0)

Courts disagreed on double-barrelled name, too

On July 12, 2005, the Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled that the then-$4.1 million empire of successful Nashville businessman Salvador Guzman had to be shared with his ex-wife and children. On July 11, 2006, the Supreme Court of Tennessee reversed, adopting Mr. Guzman's argument that the 16-year relationship had been a bigamous marriage and was therefore void, but the Supreme Court awarded child support and "remanded for a determination of the existence of an implied partnership between the parties." The final determination on that "partnership" issue is not available on the tsc.state.tn.us web site where the two opinions above are found.

The history is that Himelda Fuentes filed for divorce from Salvador Guzman in September 2002, and Mr. Guzman sought to annul the couple's 1986 marriage by saying that it was invalid under Mexican law, on the basis of Fuentes' having been married in a civil ceremony in 1982 that wasn't ever terminated by divorce. The Court of Appeals ruled that the Tennessee marriage was valid, regardless of how it would be treated in Mexico, and thus the family assets were marital property. The trial court had also rejected Guzman's argument and had awarded Ms. Fuentes and the children approximately $800,000 in assets. The Court of Appeals upped that amount to $1,500,000.

The Supreme Court's declaration of a bigamous marriage ended the divorce petition after a four-year battle, with Guzman winning on the issue that there never was a marriage under Tennessee law, and therefore no marital property to distribute. Whether there was a "partnership" does not appear to have been litigated back up to the appellate level.

Double-barrelled name: "Mr. Guzman" or "Mr. Alvarez"?

The primary issue is interesting - namely, the cross-border effect of marriages and divorce. Less significant to the parties but curious nonetheless is the different abbreviations used by the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. The Court of Appeals referred to the parties as "Husband" and "Wife." They also referred to Mr. Guzman as "Mr. Guzman," dropping this footnote:

Although Mr. Guzman is designated as Salvador Guzman Alvares in the style of this case, we will refer to him either as Husband or Mr. Guzman, as that is the name he has used since emigrating to the United States.

The Supreme Court, however, abbreviated the name of Salvador Guzman as "Mr. Alvarez," dropping a footnote to explain that

Since emigrating to the United States, Mr. Alvares has used the name 'Salvador Alvares Guzman.' We shall refer to Mr. Alvares as his name appears in the complaint for divorce.

That footnote appears to have been intended as a direct correction of, or even an expression of disapproval of, the Court of Appeals' use of "Mr. Guzman." The Supreme Court appears to have assumed that his surname is the single "Alvares" and not a double-barrelled name, which is common practice throughout the world, and usually employed in the U.S. as a hyphenated last name. Double-barrelled names are more commonly unhyphenated in Mexico, which both courts knew to be the home country of the parties. Reviewing the full name used in the complaint - "Salvador Guzman Alvares" - the Supreme Court appears to have disregarded the possibility that the surname might be "Guzman Alvares" and that the only proper abbreviation of such a double-barrelled name would be "Guzman" and not "Alvares."

At the end of the day, it is up to the parties to clarify whether there is a double-barrelled name at issue, and what the proper abbreviation would be. I wonder what the attorneys used as abbreviations for their own clients in the papers filed with the courts - that would seem to be the best way to give the courts some guidance on the issue.

Labels: justice

Post a Comment (0)

See Cartoons by Brian Fairrington - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

If spontaneous reactions have a place in politics, let's set the groundwork for outbursts of compassion

"Compassion is not a new or sudden concept for her, awakened in this big moment."

The outburst during last week's health care address to Congress was about how and whether the unvisaed will get access to health care and health care benefits.

I said at the time that I am upset by the hotheadedness in any discussion about people who don't have a visa. As Baptist Minister Drew Smith recently said on Ethics Daily and Diana Butler Bass recently said on BeliefNet, respectively:

I am troubled that many folks are not concerned about developing a compassionate response to the immigration issue

and

I wish the American family's compassion could embrace undocumented immigrants.

In 2006, as part of the launch of the Welcoming Tennessee Initiative, I made the point that Americans are generally compassionate in one-on-one interactions, but that in politics we tend to switch that channel off:

Most businesses and organizations and individuals treat people with decency and self-respect on a one-to-one basis. But at least in the public dialogue we haven't heard a whole lot of these values.

If we bring compassion into our political discourse, we might stand shoulder to shoulder with politicians like Arnold Schwarzenegger, who said that the unvisaed shouldn't be scapegoated.

We might find that our voices echo these words of former President George W. Bush:

[W]e must remember that the vast majority of illegal immigrants are decent people who work hard, support their families, practice their faith, and lead responsible lives. They are a part of American life...

America needs to conduct this debate on immigration in a reasoned and respectful tone. Feelings run deep on this issue, and as we work it out, all of us need to keep some things in mind. We cannot build a unified country by inciting people to anger, or playing on anyone's fears, or exploiting the issue of immigration for political gain.

If spontaneous reactions have a place in politics, let's set the groundwork for outbursts of compassion. I'm reminded of this powerful sermon on the Egyptian princess' spur-of-the-moment decision to save Moses from the Nile:

The writer of Exodus tells us absolutely nothing about the life of the Pharaoh's daughter up to this point. We do not know how old she was or whether she had children of her own. We don't know what she has been doing with her freedom and privilege up to the day that she saw the little basket on the river bank. We are not told her opinion of her father's social policies. We don't know whether she has been arguing with her father, wringing her hands over the newspaper, joining protest marches, or just going on as usual, eating, drinking, and shopping at the mall. We don’t even know her name. All we know about her is what she did at that moment: she saw the basket, had it fetched, opened it, and seeing the crying baby she had pity. Whether her compassion was already deeply rooted in long-considered conviction, or whether it was awakened all at once by the baby's cries, we do not know. But I have a hunch.
...
[M]y hunch is that the Pharaoh's daughter has already been thinking about what is going on in Egypt. And she has already been practicing compassion in other ways. Compassion is not a new or sudden concept for her, awakened in this big moment.

Read or listen to the entire sermon here. (I think it's a must-read, with a fresh angle for just about any reader, whether you rarely - or frequently - think about immigrants and immigration.)

Going forward, as the American discussions continue about access to visas and benefits - and about the people to whom those lifelines are currently or will be out of reach - let's build up our political muscles of compassion to the point that the outbursts are in love.

Labels: faith, immigrants, justice

Post a Comment (0)